Just a quickie

Due to teenagers being noctural creatures I don't think I will be considering sleep tonight. Class in a few hours should be plenty dull with a substitute teacher for the next three weeks (one of which has quite the reputation of being meh) so I'll have plenty of time to catch my z's before the Wii Sports Resort launch tonight at EB Swanston.

Lack of funds to pick it up tonight, not even to buy/play for 3-4 days/return for instant refund. Shame to, since a free second MotionPlus and dual Wiimote charger are being offered as bonuses for we Nintendrones with no other outlet for disposing of cash money. On the bright side, there will still be a few hours to try out the games on display and give a half assed demo write up instead of a full review, now lets just hope Nintendo have the balls to stop distracting me with archery and swordfighting and show off the rest of the sports on offer.

Anyways I'm thinking a GTO marathon til the sun comes round the corner

Cheers

Yea yea, no excuses. I'm just lazy

Whew, this has been a good month+ long nap. Now with a reason to get out of bed again I've run out of excuses for not doing any productive writing, sooooooooo ummm. Yea if Anthony gives a damn I'll get started on some of those holiday reviews I never got around to writing (list after this ranting), tomorrow, or sometime this week, I'll get around to uploading the censorship piece featured in the orientation issue of The Box.

Classwork is still going to be pushing my writing of the video games of course, but as to 'how' it will be pushing it (especially in Small Press Publishing) the final outcomes are still nowhere near set in stone. I would love to try some type of print distribution, of course the power of the internet makes stuff like news and reviews pointless, meaning I might have to use more than the usual 3 brain cells. The Non-Fiction genre essays are still going ahead, but as to formats and details included, and even length, I'm still undecided. Really feels out of place in my class through since 90% of the class are writing memoirs/biographies. Also yet to be determined is my choice of workplace for practical placement, so stay tuned!

Reviews to look forward to

AC/DC Rock Band track pack

De Blob

Dead Space

John Woo Presents Stranglehold

Mirror's Edge

Ratchet Quest For Booty

Valkyria Chronicles

Yakuza 2

Also, when is someone going to kill that Stephen Conroy so the threat of Australia going all totalitarianism will vanish with his stupid clean feed stratagy. If its a hiding spot for the corpse that is holding up the situation, feel free to use my backyard, its a small price to pay for the good of the nation lol.

Cheers

PS. In case this filter does go through, heres a list of debateable areas of interest that will get this blog banned in Australia.

-Abortion would have killed Beethoven if it were available to his family, so I am happily anti-abortion.

-Anorexia suffers need help and should seek advice from counsilers. Or just talking to friends who can knock some sense into ya (avoid friends who are also suffering from Anorexia, otherwise this goes nowhere fast)

-Breast/Boob/Tit cancer is responsible for 'x' number of deaths a year, give to whatever charities to help support research/cures

-Even I wont touch the subject of euthenasia with a 10 foot pole (but mentioning it will help get this page blacklisted by ACMA)

-Free Tibet

-Chairman Mao was  NOT right, get over yourself!

-Kevin Rudd wants to change his last name to Zedong

-If all goes shit, Hugo Weaving will save us by blowing up Parliament House

By popular demand

So yea, at the request of the masses I have to write stuff here. Quite a bit has come n gone this last month so its about time I was given this little push in the general direction of the keyboard.

Now as I am still a student, reenrollment was the second biggest thing from the tafe side of news in recent weeks (the biggest being my recieving an award for my awesomeness) and looks like I'll be quite a bit busier next year then I ever was in 2008. Aside from the two core subjects I can look forward to doing practical placement in some building of professional writing peoples (no idea where yet), non-fiction writing project, myths and symbols and professional publishing. So yea, bit of a jump from the 4 subjects I blugged my way through this year.

The one that I'm generally paying most attention to for 09 is non-fiction writing, because as the good nerd I am I will be continuing the writing of the videya games in that class. Instead of a full book I've been given the ok to write a series of essays on a particular subject, so the plan is for a series of essays with each detailing the growth n elements of specific game genres. As it stands now I unsure which few will get the special class treatment so I'm open to requests, will report on more about this later in the holidays.

And to end the suspence on what is going on about getting a 360 or PS3 I shall bring it to a close here and now. First on the list will be the PS3 this upcoming week thanks to a surprisingly good deal from Harvey Norman (of all places!) for an 80GB console with LittleBigPlanet, collectors edition Far Cry 2, Mirror's Edge and blu ray copy of Casino Royal. The 360 is still on hold until at least another $100 is wiped off the pro bundle prices. Yes the system is cheap enough now, but for something that is going to stay offline (thanks to no built in wifi) it doesn't deserve $400 price tag. That and the bundled games don't interest me, at least not compared to some of the other bundles going on around the world.

So there ya have it, you happy Jordan!

Cheers

P.S. In a vein attempt to look more professional there is a new contact email for the potential new clients. Email is nobodygaming@gmail.com (and dont worry others who know me, ill be using the ol email for personal use still)

Moogle at work Down Under

Been a few days since the last post, kinda makes me feel like I've started neglecting my own child when I realize how little attention I show this blog. Probably a good thing that I changed my mind about getting a dog last year, lord knows what would happen to it now under my care. Anyways, onto the bragging part of this post. New issue of The Box is now available at Box Hill TAFE campuses, complete with my own contribution. A tad disappointed that two of the four original people who jumped on this idea have disappeared, with the other guy potentially not caring about this anymore. But then I remember that people are vile creatures never to be trusted. For anyone who stumbles across this post and has no access to The Box magazine, here is the article in raw text form.

Developing the game Down Under

It’s easy to ignore that little land mass down under if you are a gamer. After all, it’s not exactly clear what Australia has contributed to the gaming community. Even today, the market in Australia for publishers is still undersized compared to other regions. However, the truth is Australia has grown from small groups porting software into a considerable region for developer talent.

Going back to the early 80s with games such as The Hobbit developed by Melbourne House up to the recent award winning Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords by Interactive Studios, people would not realize many of their favourite games come from Australian developer studios. Many of our industry greats can go unnoticed even in their own homeland, with the exception of a few games.

Titles such as Ty the Tasmanian Tiger take a somewhat satirical view of Australian culture, featuring an Australian figure as the protagonist with almost insulting Aussie accents. With the addition of our Australian Rules football games (which do not see international releases) these are the most identifiable Australian games. While we can take obvious credit for these accomplishments, many would be shocked to learn that 1985 fighting game Way of the Exploding Fist was Australian made.

What would it take to make games truly identifiable as Australian? An Underbelly themed sandbox game? Okami redone with Aboriginal styled art? Or maybe an Australian themed Mario game with mushrooms replaced by meat pies, bloopers replaced by sharks and princess peach replaced with a true Aussie Sheila living off her 3 baby bonus payments?

Maybe if developers find a way to represent the Australian lifestyle in video games, we won't have to point to a talking extinct animal as our representative. We may not be ready for Fat Pizza: The Game but it would be a step in the right direction in identifying Australian games.